Social Prescribing for a Mindful Lifestyle

Overview

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of an 8-week mindfulness lifestyle social prescribing program in community-dwelling older adults aged 55 and older. The main questions it aims to answer are: To establish a mindfulness lifestyle social prescribing model applied to the psychological and social health promotion of middle-aged and older populations. To evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention on improving depressive symptoms, loneliness, and quality of life in this population. Participants will receive an 8-week group intervention program, with each weekly session lasting approximately 3 hours. The structured curriculum integrates mindfulness awareness, body scanning, mindfulness stretching, breathing training, healthy dietary education, and art practices (such as herbal therapy and leaf printing). Researchers will collect and evaluate data from pre- and post-intervention assessments to measure changes in depressive symptoms, loneliness risk, and overall quality of life.

Detailed description

This clinical trial implements an 8-week mindfulness lifestyle social prescribing program designed to enhance the psychological and social well-being of community-dwelling older adults. The intervention integrates mindfulness practices with healthy lifestyle modifications to address sub-healthy states, such as depressive symptoms and social isolation, which traditional clinical models often fail to fully resolve.

The structured 8-week group curriculum meets weekly for 3 hours per session. The program systematically incorporates mindfulness awareness, body scanning, mindfulness stretching, breathing training, healthy dietary education, and art practices (including herbal therapy and leaf printing).

The program is delivered by a multidisciplinary team of geriatricians, geriatric case managers, nutritionists, exercise instructors, and trained volunteers to ensure comprehensive support.

Research procedures involve a pre- and post-intervention assessment design. Participants will undergo standardized evaluations before the commencement of the first session (Week 1) and upon the completion of the program (Week 8). These assessments will objectively measure changes in depressive symptoms, the risk of loneliness, and overall quality of life to determine the effect of this social prescribing model.

Interventions

• Behavioral Mindfulness Lifestyle Social Prescribing Program
  An 8-week, once-weekly, 3-hour group program designed for middle-aged and older adults. The structured curriculum integrates mindfulness awareness, body scanning, mindfulness stretching, breathing training, healthy dietary education, and art practices (such as herbal therapy and leaf printing). It is delivered by a multidisciplinary team including geriatricians, case managers, dietitians, exercise instructors, and volunteers.

Primary outcome measures

• Changes in Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) score [Time frame: Baseline and Week 8]
• Changes in UCLA Loneliness Scale score [Time frame: Baseline and Week 8]
• Changes in WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire score [Time frame: Baseline and Week 8]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

• People aged 55 years or older.
• People with a Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) score of 7-10 or a UCLA Loneliness Scale Version 3 score of 35-64.
• People can understand the research process, meet the requirements of the research, and can sign the informed consent and participate in the project.

Exclusion criteria

• People that are unable to cooperate with the project or follow-up.
• According to the PI's judgment, people with severe or poorly controlled conditions include ongoing acute diseases, severe infections, severe abnormal laboratory tests, or serious medical conditions with the following systems: cardiovascular, pulmonary, hepatic, nervous, mental, metabolic, renal, musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, etc.
• People with severe depression, risk of self-harm, severe cognitive impairment (dementia), visual or hearing impairment, and disabilities that prevent the completion of the project and assessment.
• People are currently or expected to join any other physical training courses or nutrition intervention plans during the project period.
• Others are based on the judgment of the PI that participating in this project may adversely affect the safety of the subjects, hinder the progress of the experiment, or interfere with the evaluation of the outcomes of the project.

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: No

Study design

Allocation

N/A

Model

Single group

Masking

Open label

Primary purpose

Health services research

Study locations

Taiwan · 1 center

• Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital — Hualien City

Publications

• Holt-Lunstad J, Smith TB, Baker M, Harris T, Stephenson D. Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for mortality: a meta-analytic review. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2015 Mar;10(2):227-37. doi: 10.1177/1745691614568352. PMID 25910392
• Holt-Lunstad J, Smith TB, Layton JB. Social relationships and mortality risk: a meta-analytic review. PLoS Med. 2010 Jul 27;7(7):e1000316. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316. PMID 20668659
• Paquet C, Whitehead J, Shah R, Adams AM, Dooley D, Spreng RN, Aunio AL, Dube L. Social Prescription Interventions Addressing Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults: Meta-Review Integrating On-the-Ground Resources. J Med Internet Res. 2023 May 17;25:e40213. doi: 10.2196/40213. PMID 37195738

Identifiers

NCT: NCT07669805 · IRB115-107-A

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗